Max Weber Fellowships

Who Can Apply?

The Programme is open to applicants who are within 5 years of the completion of their PhD from anywhere in the world, regardless of nationality and is not restricted to citizens of the EU. All things being equal, preference is given to those who have recently completed a doctorate, not had a postdoctoral position before and/or are on the job market. The language of the programme is English, and applicants must fulfil the English language requirements as outlined in the section on Eligibility.

To ensure a richness of perspectives and experiences, the EUI is committed to actively recruiting from a diverse pool of applicants. We encourage candidates from disadvantaged backgrounds, as well as those who identify as belonging to groups that are underrepresented in higher education to apply. Candidates are invited to provide any information that may be relevant to the application under “Further information” -> ”Additional notes” in the application form.

The EUI Spreading Excellence Programme can provide support for Early-Stage Researchers from Widening countries* and we encourage candidates from these countries to apply.

Applicants for Max Weber Fellowships who are nationals and/or residents (please check details on eligibility) of Finland, Greece, Poland, Slovenia or Japan may be considered for the grant schemes (see the last tab of this section) that are run by funding bodies in these countries.

For How Long?

The length of the Max Weber Fellowships varies by the academic unit to which the Fellows are affiliated.

• The Department of Law (LAW) offers only 1-year Fellowships.
• The Department of Economics (ECO) and the Department of Political and Social Sciences (SPS) offer both 1-year and 2-year Fellowships. Fellows in these Departments who stay on for a second year will have the possibility of applying for a Part-time assistant professor contract (level ASSPR6/3) for 12 months involving some teaching duties and mentoring Ph.D. researchers: net remuneration would be approximately 850 EUR in addition to the monthly grant.
• The Department of History (HEC) offers both 1-year and 2-year Fellowships. One of the two-year fellows can be affiliated with the Alcide De Gasperi Research Centre on European Integration, co-directed by the Chair of History of European Integration, Prof. Emmanuel Mourlon-Druol.
  In the second year, the fellow is expected to act as Research Coordinator of the Centre, which includes research related to the Centre’s interests, contributing to the organisation of the Centre’s events, and working with the co-directors to develop new projects. Candidates can express their interest in the Alcide De Gasperi Research Centre affiliation under “Further information” in the application form.
• The Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies (RSCAS) offers 1- and 2-year fellowships.
• The Florence School of Transnational Governance (STG) only offers 2-year Fellowships. During the second year, fellows affiliated with STG are expected to take part in the activities of the School, including some teaching.

Candidates for ECO, HEC, SPS and the RSCAS are asked to indicate the desired length of their Fellowship (1 or 2 years) when applying. Candidates for LAW can only stipulate 1 year, and candidates for STG only 2 years. All Fellowships run from September to August. The EUI reserves the right to determine the length of the award, be it 12 or 24 months. The period offered will be indicated in the award letter.

• Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Kosovo², Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia and Ukraine

²This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244(1999) and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence.

Eligibility

• Candidates of any nationality are eligible for the Max Weber Fellowships.

• Candidates must have received their Ph.D. within the past 5 years or have official approval to defend their thesis by the time of the start of the programme (1 September). This means to apply for 2025-26 candidates should have received or submitted their Ph.D. between 01/09/2020 and 01/09/2025 and the Ph.D. defence should take place no later than 31/12/2025.

• Extensions to the five-year rule are allowed for applicants whose academic career has been interrupted for maternity or paternity leave, illness or mandatory military service. Cite circumstances in the application form in the field 'Additional Notes'. Successful candidates will be asked to provide supporting documents.

• Early-stage researchers who are at the EUI at the time of the application deadline are not eligible for the Max Weber Fellowship. This refers to those enrolled in the EUI Doctoral Programme, or employed by or on a fellowship hosted by the EUI. Those who have formerly been at the EUI can apply for a Fellowship after having been continuously away from the EUI in a full-time occupation or fellowship for at least one year by the application deadline.

• The expected level of English proficiency is level C1 of the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR). An English certificate is not requested as part of the application, but successful candidates will be requested to provide a certificate/supporting document on registration. This can be one of the international certificates listed below, or a document showing that the candidate has written the doctorate, or published an article or a book chapter of at least 6,000 words, in English, or has pursued post-graduate studies in an English language degree programme. Native English speakers are exempt from proof.

  The following international certificates of English proficiency are recognised by the EUI.

Applications have to be submitted through the Online Application Form.
There are two distinct phases in the application process:

1. Register your application as early as possible.

You are encouraged to register your application, by inserting your personal details and referee details as soon as possible. This is important to allow sufficient time for your referees to submit the reference letters before the deadline. References will not be accepted after the deadline.

2. Submit your application by the deadline 18 October 2024 at 14:00 CEST. (applications may be submitted until 14:00 CEST on 18 October 2024).

Once you have registered your application you may continue to work on the application details and attachments until the deadline of 18 October 2024 (14:00 CEST). Submit the application only when you have filled in all the information correctly and have successfully uploaded the final version of the attachments.

Requested Documents

• Prepare your CV with a list of publications in PDF.

• Prepare an ‘Academic career statement’ (2 pages) as a PDF. The purpose of this statement is for you to indicate why you think the MW Programme, particularly the Academic Practice Activities, will benefit you. It should indicate your research and teaching interests and experience, and career plans.

• Prepare a ‘Research proposal’ (2 pages) as a PDF. The proposal must be clear and well structured, with well-defined and realistic goals that can be achieved within the duration of the fellowship. If you are applying for a 24-month Fellowship, you should indicate on the research proposal what you aim to achieve 1) in the first 12 months and 2) what you hope to do in months 13-24. You may additionally indicate if you think your research will fit with one of the following five "Interdisciplinary Research Clusters":
  • Democracy in the 21st century
  • Inequality, welfare and social justice
  • Crisis of expert knowledge and authority
  • Technological change and society
  • Environmental Challenges and Climate Change Governance
  • Decentering Eurocentrism

The application form will also ask you to indicate whether you would be interested in any of the Interdisciplinary Research Clusters or not.

• There is no advantage in indicating fit with a cluster. Candidates will be selected according to the Selection Criteria and Selection Procedure and only subsequently will we allocate them to suitable clusters.
• Please use standard international fonts, do not use macros, special characters, password-protection, electronic signatures or logos.
• The Academic career statement and Research proposal should also meet the requirements established by the EUI Guidelines for the Responsible Use of Artificial Intelligence for Research. In particular, candidates should refrain from having Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) autonomously write substantial or integral parts of the documents. When using AI to produce novel content, they must acknowledge and reference the parts of the content that have been AI-generated.

Letters of Reference:

• Applicants should provide the names of a minimum of two and a maximum of three academic referees and ensure that at least two letters of reference are submitted online directly by the referees by the deadline 18 October 2024 (14:00 CEST). References will not be accepted after the deadline.
• References from current full-time or part-time EUI professors will not be accepted.

Your referees will be contacted and will be allowed to submit the reference only after you have completed and registered the first step of the online application form including the names and contact details of referees. In order to receive the references in time by the deadline, you should register the referee details as soon as possible. This is possible at any time, and you do not yet need to submit the final version of your application at that time.

When you register your referees' contact details in the online application form, an email requesting a reference on your behalf is automatically sent to the referees you have nominated. Nevertheless, it is your responsibility to contact referees directly to inform them of your request, to verify that they have received the email request and to ensure that they submit the reference by the deadline. Please note that reference letters can be submitted by the registered referees (before the deadline) even after you have submitted your application. Registered referees may contact the Academic Service in case of questions or problems emailing [email protected].

Notes for Referees

Once the candidate has registered the details of their referees, each referee will receive an e-mail with access details for submitting the reference letter online.

• References should be submitted as PDF files. Please use standard international fonts, do not use macros, special characters, password-protection, electronic signatures or logos.
• Do not send a hard copy.
• You may write in a language other than English, but English will guarantee the widest possible reading.
• References from current full-time or part-time EUI professors will not be accepted.
• If you have any problems or questions, please contact the Academic Service by emailing [email protected].

The deadline for submitting references is 18 October 2024 (14:00 CEST). Kindly note that the EUI encourages candidates to apply and register their referees as early as possible: the application process is open from mid-July to the 18 October deadline.

Candidates with external funding

Candidates with funding from an external source are welcome to apply and will be selected according to the same criteria and procedures. They can do so by applying for an externally funded fellowship by the 24 March 2025 deadline.

An externally funded Max Weber Fellow should have a scholarship from a recognised National or International Research Funding Council or Charity that covers living and research costs equivalent to 15.000 euro for 12 months (1.250 euro per month). This requirement may only be waived partially or completely in very special circumstances.

The applications (CV, Career Statement, Research Proposal and proof of funding, all in PDF format) should be sent directly to [email protected].

Two confidential letters of reference (also in PDF) should be sent directly by the referees to the same email address.

Some postdoctoral fellowships are also available through agreements with external funding bodies. Please check the descriptions and eligibility criteria.

Academy of Finland 

The Academy of Finland supports research stays at the EUI (for 12 or 24 months) as part of its funding for postdoctoral research. Candidates who apply for postdoctoral research funding from the Academy of Finland and are interested in a Max Weber Fellowship are encouraged to apply for admission to the Max Weber Programme in the general call following the instructions given on this webpage.
Alternatively, candidates can apply to the Max Weber Programme as candidates with external funding.
Please visit the Academy of Finland website for its general eligibility conditions and deadlines.

Canon Foundation in Europe Fellowships

The Canon Foundation in Europe and the EUI jointly award one Canon Foundation in Europe Fellowship each year for post-doctoral research at the EUI. The fellowship is open to candidates of Japanese nationality or permanent residents of Japan. The selected candidate will participate in the Max Weber programme.

Interested candidates should apply using instructions given on the website of the Canon Foundation in Europe and/or apply directly for the Max Weber programme following the instructions given on this webpage.

EUI-IHEID Fellowship

Applicants to the Max Weber Programme for 2025-26 whose research area overlaps with the work of the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva (IHEID) may be considered for the “EUI-IHEID” Fellowship, which involves a first year at the EUI and a second year at the IHEID. Applicants to the MWP wishing to take advantage of this additional opportunity should indicate their willingness to be considered for it in their application by ticking the appropriate tab.

Hellenic Fellowship

Τhe Hellenic Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs supports the appointment of one Greek recent graduate in the context of EUI’s Max Weber postdoctoral programme for the academic year 2025-26. Τhe scholarship will be awarded by I.K.Y. (Greek State Scholarships Foundation) in collaboration with the EUI. Candidates shall submit their applications and requested documents through the EUI’s Online Application Form in compliance with the EUI’s application procedures and deadlines. Candidates shall also submit to I.K.Y. a copy of their application along with requested documents in compliance with I.K.Y.’s application procedures and deadlines. Applicants must meet both EUI’s and I.K.Y.’s eligibility criteria. The selection shall be made by the EUI in accordance with Max Weber postdoctoral programme selection procedure. Before proceeding with the submission of an application, please read carefully the relevant call of I.K.Y. (Greek State Scholarships Foundation).

Kohli Fellowship

The Kohli Foundation for Sociology funds two-year postdoctoral fellowships for early-stage researchers in sociology.

Currently, Kohli Fellowships affiliated with the Max Weber Programme are awarded every second year and the next call will be launched in July 2024.

Polish Max Weber Fellowship

The Polish Ministry of Education and Science awards two Max Weber Fellowships for the academic year 2025-26. The fellowships are available to Polish candidates who have received a doctorate within the last five years. The selected candidates will participate in the Max Weber Programme.

Interested candidates should apply directly for admission to the Max Weber Programme following the instructions given on this webpage. The deadline for applications is 18 October 2024 (14:00 CEST). Eligible Polish candidates will automatically be considered for this Fellowship.

Postdoctoral exchanges under the CIVICA partnership

Max Weber Fellows are eligible to spend 10 months in one of the CIVICA partner universities after their Fellowship. The call for the postdoctoral exchange is typically in the Spring term and announced separately. The selection is done from among Fellows enrolled in the Max Weber Programme at the time of the application.

Slovenian Fellowship

The Slovene Scholarship, Development, Disability and Maintenance Fund of the Republic of Slovenia awards a post-doctoral fellowship for the academic year 2025-26. The fellowship is available to Slovenian candidates who have received a doctorate within the last five years. The selected candidate will participate in the Max Weber Programme.

Interested candidates should apply directly to the Max Weber programme following the instructions given on this webpage. The deadline for applications is 18 October 2024 (14:00 CEST). Eligible Slovenian candidates will automatically be considered for this Fellowship.